Silent Light(Stellet Licht)

Variety by

Reygadas' typically arresting widescreen visuals and the presence of non-pro actors speaking in German-derived Plautdietsch makes for an initially hypnotic combination, but the spell breaks its hold well before the end of the picture's inflated running time, signaling an endurance test for all but the most ascetic arthouse auds.

Salon by Andrew O'Hehir

It's amazingly beautiful and it tests your patience; both things are par for the course with Reygadas, After that, you've either surrendered to his idiosyncratic sense of rhythm, or you're out of there.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein

This director is too calculating to hold our trust for long, and skepticism will kill transcendence every time.

Village Voice by J. Hoberman

The results are extraordinary. As understated as it is, the movie is both deeply absurd and powerfully affecting.

The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt

Reygadas has hitched his austere and protracted style to an allegorical tale of subtle strength and depth.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey

Much of what happens in Silent Light can feel painstakingly mundane: milking cows, harvesting wheat, a long drive at night in and out of shadows. Yet throughout, there's a sense of something ominous impending, and while it remains gentle, the ending is genuinely startling.

The New York Times by Manohla Dargis

The film was written, directed and somehow willed into unlikely existence by the extravagantly talented Carlos Reygadas, whose immersion in this exotic world feels so deep and true that it seems like an act of faith.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

The stab at sublimity-by-proxy doesn't take.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

At bottom, Silent Light is less about faith than matters of the heart, and in Reygadas' hands, the ache is bone-deep.

New York Post by V.A. Musetto

As is his custom, Reygadas uses a mostly nonprofessional cast; and, as expected, he draws remarkably realistic performances.